May I let my voice be a clarion call. I will use these words for justice. I will use these words for truth. And humour.

Friday, July 28, 2006

 

I think about them pretty often now...

Today, I brought our pets to the kennel, since we weren't able to find anybody who had two weeks available for cat/dog sitting, and also wasn't allergic.

Today, I heard on Pacifica Radio an interview with a woman in Lebanon telling about the atrocities of the U.S.-supported Israeli bombings, and the expectations the Israeli govt had set that everyone is to move out of a large section of Lebanon because they're going to bomb from the air to squeeze out Hezbollah. These people (mostly innocent civilians) have little water or food, and don't have a vacation home in another part of Lebanon to sit out the bombing strikes, so in reality, they will be homeless during the bombings and might likely actually have rubble for a home when they get back.

Today, as with most every day, I saw homeless people with shopping carts, or hanging out in the library to try and get some sleep on a chair for the 8 hours its open.

Today I thought about my grandmother living alone, since my grandfather died a few years back.

When I'm riding my bike, or taking a shower, or watching a show on DVD, or eating breakfast, I think about those who are not where I am. The cats and dog are probably sad and missing us. The people enduring the bombing in Lebanon don't know me, but could use my assistance, in whatever form that may take. The homeless people, when I lay down to sleep in my bed, I think about the injustice of the discrepancy, that the U.S. and most of its cities don't make any genuine attempts at a safety net, so there are hundreds of thousands who lay down on the sidewalk or pull up some grass in a park, with all their possessions in a pack laid out by their bedroll. My grandmother, she doesn't want to move into an assisted care facility because she has friends in town, and probably would do well with more companionship.

I think about all of them, and so many more... Realistically, what can I do to help?

music: "I got a mesa boogie amp at home, it's crying to me..."

colors: whites, colors, and bright colors - laundry day

mood: contemplative/prayerful/distracted

chant/prayer/mantra:
Give, and encourage giving.


pax hominibus,
joel

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

 

God, Gays, and Mister Smith Goes to Washington

Aaaaugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHY are the representatives of this nation claiming God is responsible for their homosexual-hating bigotry? And they're all republicans (TX, CO, IN, GA).

And indeed, they're doing this while there are REAL ISSUES going on in the US and the world that need attention. The "Gay Issue" worked to get the Christian conservative vote out in November 2004, that's why.

I found out at a seminar last Saturday that 90 million (90,000,000) Americans are functionally illiterate, with reading abilities at or below what's expected of fourth-graders. And significantly more are not literate enough to be able to get the information they need to do a critical analysis of the candidates and issues at election time. Democracy requires an informed electorate. And the people in office prefer to spend money on war and oil profits, over education. That's what God wants, apparently. [/cynicism]

We watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring a young Jimmy Stewart, in which he speaks to American Government in 1939, and its sadly entirely accurate today as well. The idea that people who are doing "God's work" would be despoiling the planet and allowing/propagating injustices to humanity is anathema to our very existence. Did I say "Ugh!" yet?

music: Melvins - Hugh

colors: Black, Brown, Blue

mood: Zing.

chant/prayer/mantra: Will the real God please stand up?


pax hominibus,
joel

Sunday, July 23, 2006

 

Movie: Who Killed the Electric Car?


This movie is a shockingly honest portrayal of what happened with the electric cars that began to come out in ~1996, and why there are none on the road now. According to the movie, these cars were significantly better than gas-powered or hydrogen-powered combustion engines in almost every way.

Everyone would do well to see this movie. It's every bit as poignant as An Inconvenient Truth, but with no Al Gore, and lots of good people who wanted electric cars, but watched as the auto industry and oil industry pulled them off for reasons best understood as "greed."

music: Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

colors: Silver, EV-1 Metallic Blue

mood: standard

chant/prayer/mantra:
Let there be love.

pax hominibus,
joel

Saturday, July 15, 2006

 

Godel, Escher, Bach, then Tattoo Question, then Vicious Dog

Today, while I was working at the desk at the library, I was reading the intro to Godel Escher Bach, a fantastic book recommended by a fantastic friend a fantastically long time ago that I'm only now getting to. So far it seems to be all about the mind-benders of being inside and outside at once, or having snakes that eat their own tail, etc. It's probably about more than that, but that's what I've read so far... Godel's Theorem, Russell's Paradox, and stuff like that.

When I got done with work, I was just starting my bike ride through campus when a guy comes biking up beside me and asks about my leg tattoo (the one with the lovely naked lady on the cross), and he says that he's from the GTU, but I guess I was in such a daze from reading the GEB book, and in motion on a bicycle, so we talked for about 30 seconds while riding, and in response to when he asked what it was about, I said that I look at it as art, so its up to the viewer's interpretation, and my explanation isn't really going to do it justice anyway. Then I said "All right. Cool?" and biked off. I felt I was a bit brusque afterwards, but then, hey....

I was thinking about the response I'd given him about how it's the viewer's interpretation and not the artist's explanation. And it got me thinking about the relationship between our Great Creator, whomever or whatever that happens to be, and us. As the viewers/participants, even if the GC were to show up and explain the fizzuck out of everything to the minutest detail, this piece of art that we live and breathe in is still up to our interpretation.

AND THEREFORE, just as I was feeling that my leg tattoo be left to the viewer's interpretation and not marred by my explanation, perhaps all of the Word-based writers have done us a disservice by giving us all this explanation, scattered as it may be, rather than letting us just see the world unexplained, with "beginner's mind." Just a thought.

After that, I was chased by a vicious barking growling 40 pound black three-legged dog. That was totally surreal. It was running every bit as fast as I could bike and it only had three legs. It ran full speed, skittering around corners, as if possessed. I wondered if my reply to my fellow seminarian had somehow tripped this dog off into a devil/God-driven frenzy to bite at my heels as I biked. But that would be nutty. S thinks that it's likely the dog just liked to chase bikes. I had both her and Maggie, our dog, smell me when I got home, and there were no smells other than the usual. It was pretty surreal anyway, and made for an interesting, if not also mentally-bothered, 4 mile bike ride home after that.

I guess I've been pretty bothered as well by all the middle-east stuff going on, but then who hasn't? I'll just keep plugging away on the book of love I'm working on...

music: The Darkness - Friday something or other...

chant/prayer/mantra:
Keep it mellow.


pax hominibus,
joel

Friday, July 14, 2006

 

my list of books to read from the library

i haven't been able to sleep, so i figured i'd sync up my palm pilot and work on some writing.

here's a list of all the books i've found over the last six months while working at the library that i want to read at some point (sorry, lots of truncated words, but should be basically readable):

BOOK LIST

  1. protestantism, capitalism, & nature in amer (bt 695.5 s75)
  2. letter from th birmingham city jail (mlk)
  3. jesus' walkin on th sea (bs 2280 z4 v.81)
  4. a critical study of th communicative dyn of rock programminq w/ implic 4 th communic of th gospel in th 1970s (bv 4447 j6)
  5. great painters & their famous bible pics (nd 1430 q875, size 2)
  6. universal salv: th current debate (bs 680 u55 u55)
  7. 100 q's tht non-membrs ask about UU (bx 9841.2 s52)
  8. faith of a heretic (bl k34 1963)
  9. native amer strytllg (e 98 f6 n386)
  10. rave culture & relig (hq 796 r3683)
  11. th executed god: (lockdwn amer) (hv 8687 t38)
  12. how to tell god from th devil (bt 160 e26)
  13. reordering nature (qh 438.7 d43)
  14. dharma gaia (bq 4570 e23 d48)
  15. buddha, marx & god (bl 51 L52)
  16. th figures/types of th OT (bs 478 m3)
  17. liberation theology (bt 83.97 L56)
  18. process theo (bt 83.6 p76)
  19. atonemcnt of th death of x (bt 263 m34)
  20. exorcism (bv 873 e8 e9)
  21. th xtian revolutionary (bt 738.2 b76)
  22. living in hell: th dilemma of african-american survival (bv 4241.5 L58)
  23. th jazz of prching (bv 4211.3 j66)
  24. all god's chillun (bv 4832.2 o9)
  25. love meets th dragons (bv 4011 o95)
  26. school of assassins: guns, greed, globalization (u 248 a75 n45)
  27. waging nuclear peace (u263 e47)
  28. freedom of speech in th roman republic (dg 231.3 r6)
  29. th anti-x, ecce homo, twilight of th idols - nietzsche (b 3312 e5 r53)
  30. postmission (bv 2063 p67)
  31. th 2nd coming (bt 821.2 s385)
  32. parables for preachers (bt 375.2 r45)
  33. the trial of jc contin (bt 440 p4713)
  34. did jc survive th cross? (bt 453 n52)
  35. tools for bible study (bs 417 i5)
  36. roget's thesaurus of th bible (bs 440 d39)
  37. jesus in disneyland (br 115 p74 L96)
  38. after xtianity (br 121.3 v38)
  39. th buddha & th x (br 128 b8 L44)
  40. hindu god, xtian god (br 128 h5 c57)
  41. hinduism & xtianity (br 128 h5 d46)
  42. saccidananda (br 128 h5 L4413)
  43. th unity of reality (br 128 h5 b7813)
  44. gravity's rainbow (ps 3566 y55 p9)
  45. th best spiritual writing (ps 509 s62 b47)
  46. perelandra - c.s. Lewis on Mars (pr 6023 e926 p4)
  47. th gospel of dostoevsky (pg 3326 a15)
  48. sexuality & spirituality: th interplay of masc & fem (bf 13 m67)
  49. apocalypse: a people's commentary on revelation , bs 2825.3 r497
  50. th attraction of peyote, e 98 r3 h789
  51. systematic theology (bt 75.3 g45)
  52. studies on th early papacy (br 162 c45)
  53. a heart as wide as th world (bq 5395 s25)
  54. th liturgies of quakerism (bx 7737 d36)
  55. signs & symb of xtian art (n 7830 f37 (ref))
  56. god & time (bt 153 i47 g64)
  57. encyclopedia of islam & th muslim wrld (bp 40 e525 (ref))
  58. historical dictionary of sufism (bp 188.48 r46 (ref)
  59. symbls of xtian faith (bv 150 s77 (ref))
  60. th lord's prayer (bv 230 L53)
  61. iconoclash, (n 8217 i26 i26)
  62. why ppl do bad thnqs in th name of relig (bl 85 w44)
  63. a letter frm jc (bx 2349 L3513)
  64. responding to evil (bx 2350.3 k45)
  65. canons & decrees of th council of trent, bx 830 1545 a3 s35
  66. conversations about th end of time , bl 503 c66
  67. th nuclear weapons industry (uf 767 b47)
  68. above all earthly powers: x in a po-mo wrld, br 115 p74 w45
  69. idiot public speak (pn4121 r73)
  70. crucifixion of th intellectual man, pa 3825 p8 h47
  71. catechism of council of trent, bx 1958 e5
  72. multiply th ministry (bx 1920 r46)
  73. love it or leave it? (jk 1759 j85)
  74. law of love - gandhi (hm 278 g3246)
  75. econ globl alts (hf 1359 a574)
  76. keynes gen thry of employment, intrst, & money (hb 171 k45)
  77. arapahoe myths - e 98 r3 g38
  78. budd & Xtianity (br 128 b8 f47)
  79. th art of contemplation (bq 5612 w38
  80. fundamentalisms & state (bl 235 f83)
  81. kirpal singh (bl 624 k57)
  82. earth festivals (bf 1999 L15)
  83. In Search of the Christ Sophia - Jann Aldredge-Clanton
  84. Global Transformations (D 32 G46 1999b) - David Held
  85. the abolition of poverty (hd 6955 h6)
  86. will the real god pls stand up (bs 544 t47)
  87. crazy pigs (bs 551.2 w4)
  88. queering christ (br 115 h6 g665)
  89. seize th book, jail th author (bs 1224 g43 s63)
  90. king solomon & his magic ring, bs 580 s6 w45
  91. psychology & the bible: from x to jesus, bs 645 p89 v.4
  92. th curse of ham, bs 580 h27 g65
  93. not counting women & children ,bs 575 m44
  94. teachings on love, thich nhat hanh, bq 4360 n43
  95. jesus & jim jones, or six yrs w/ god (bp 605 p46)
  96. secret societies of amer elite (hs 61 s67)
  97. scripture on silver scrn (pn 1995.5 r45)
  98. foundations of systematic theo (bx 1751.3 g83)
  99. structural theology (bt 78 h89)
  100. aristotle on ethics (b 430 w28)
  101. leisure: theory & policy (gv 14 k34)
  102. a history of unitarianism (bx 9831 w49 1945 v1&2)
  103. th journl of uu history (bx 9803 u77)
  104. joseph priestly: a comet in th system (bx 9869 p8 c52)
  105. nomi & th magic fish (gr 359.2 x64 p59)
  106. centrality & commonality (pl 2473 z7 t8)
  107. how to read a book (pn 83 a43)
  108. john courtney murray: contemp church-state theory (bx 4705 m977 L6)
  109. martial arts: th spiritual dimension (gv 1112 p39)
  110. god's phallus (bm 610 e44)
  111. xformation & health (bq 1320 s2522 e5)
  112. *awaitinq apocalypse (bs 646 c67)
  113. i-sight of rastafari (bj 1290.3 j64)
  114. god's bullies (br 115 p7 y68)
  115. relig & mass media (bv 652.95 r43)
  116. mass media relig (bv 656.3 h66)
  117. stations of th cross (bv 656 a66)
  118. a storytllrs omnibus (gr 76 h37)
  119. and th poor get welfare (hv 95 c649)
  120. *good goats: healing our img of god (bt 140 L53)
  121. living in th lap of th goddess (bL 625.7 e45)
  122. ecstatic relig (bL 626 L48)
  123. th paradox of existentialist theo (bt 84 s57)
  124. th princip of autho (bt 88 f6)
  125. aristotle's theo (b434 e49)
  126. th 7 last wrds (bt 456 c76)
  127. th parables of jc (bt 375.2 f67)
  128. entering into th mind of god (bt 457 p55)
  129. preservin th cre8ion: environmental theo & ecol (bt 695.5 p74)
  130. th wrks of john wesley (bx 8217 w5 1975)
  131. th black x (bt 304.912 d68)
  132. dare 2 b x: homilies 4 th 90s (bx 1756 b828 d37)
  133. mystical healinq (bx 2179 L8 h67)
  134. *bible basics: mastring th content (bs 417 f47)
  135. *is th bible tru? (bs 480 o736)
  136. "sweet dreams in amer" - sharon welsch(sp?)
  137. christ's farewell discourse (bs 2615.2 L87)
  138. god, humn nature, & educ fr peace (bt 736.4 n56)
  139. journal of calendar reform (periodicals)
  140. th feminization of amer culture (ps 152 d6)
  141. th codes of hammurabi & moses (pj 3871 d38)
  142. symbols of faith bv 150 s79)
  143. engaging anabaptism (bx 8122 e54)
  144. tehillum treasury (bs 1430.3 f48)
  145. dying fr water (td 345 m22)
  146. sharing possessions (bs 2589 j64)
  147. th 5 aggregates: undstndng theravada psych & soteriology (bq 7235 b636)
  148. possessns & th life of faith (bs 2589.6 w37 g555)
  149. th strange gospel: pov in john (bs 2615.52 r47)
  150. th conversion of th imaginatn: paul (bs 2655 r32 h38)
  151. systematic theology: tillich (bt 75.2 t5)
  152. th trinity guide to th trinity (bt 109 L223)
  153. angels: ministers of grace (bt 966.2 m25)
  154. between two gardens (bt 708 n43)
  155. th unveiling of love (bp 189.2 o9713)
  156. an exploration in understanding (bd 161 h285)
  157. fear: man's worst enemy - smile, smile, smile (bf 575 f2 b87)
  158. world wo/ end, xtian eschat frm a process persp (bj 1406 w68)
  159. meher baba on love (bp 610 m4315)
  160. alien sex (body & desire in cinema & theo) (bt 741.3 L68)
  161. hate work: working thru th pain & pleasures of hate (bv 4012.2 a873)
  162. th miracle of dialogue (bv 4012.2 h6)
  163. sermon on man's 1st moon landinq (fBV 4316 a8 g7)
  164. purple violet squish (bv 4470 w5)
  165. in defense of revolution: th elohist history (bs 1181.2 c66)
  166. angels & ministers of grace (bs 1199 a5 f5)
  167. thinking from th han (b 126 h255)
  168. begone, satan! (bf 1555 b35)
  169. th light of th gods (bl 795 L54 p37)
  170. th papers of MLK, jr (e 185.97 k5 a2)
  171. th universal gita (bl 1138.67 s53)
  172. primitive existentialism (b 819 m597)
  173. seeing krishna (bl 1285.392 p87 c37)
  174. eschatology in th quran (bp 134 e7 o82)
  175. th way of mindfulness (bq 1320 s2522 e5 t53)
  176. th spectre of speciesism (bq 4570 a53 w35)
  177. selctd writngs of luther (br 331 e5 t32 v.4)
  178. th media revolution of early xtianity (br 160 e55 m46)
  179. conversion (bt 780 c58)
  180. promised land (ds 126.5 e22, size 3)
  181. dharma art (bq 4570 a72 t78)
  182. on reliq : marx & engels (bl 2775 m3983)
  183. 3 min discourses on kaballah (bm 526 a13)
  184. in god we trust? (bl 2525 i55)
  185. th everything philosophy book (bd 21 m25)
  186. witchcraft (bf 1581 r6)
  187. zen classics (bq 9264.2 z455)
  188. byzantine daily worship (bx 350 a5 r3)
  189. th authority of exprnc (bq 4570 p76 a88)
  190. a heart as wide as th world (bq 5395 s25)
  191. moksha: huxley (bf 1051 h8)
  192. thoughts wo/ a thinker (bq 4570 p76 e67)
  193. th way of non-attachment (bq 5630 v5 d48)
  194. beinq bodies: buddhist wmn on prdx of embod (bq 4570 w6 b45)
  195. essence of buddhism (bq 156 m59)
  196. +david l. Bach, "preg wman, rev 12"
  197. +michael delashmutt, "betr life thru IT, posthumn"
  198. th "satan" of milton (pr 3562 a5)
  199. notes on virginia, by t jefferson (find in other lib)
  200. sadomasochism: rc 560 s23 s3
  201. th wealth of nations (adam smith): hb 161 s65
  202. th branch davidians of waco: bp 605 b72 n49
  203. why?: hm 1076 t55
  204. god is not...: bt 103 g626
  205. th crucified god: bt 202 m5513
  206. re-ordering nature: qh 438.7 d43
  207. arguing about sex: bt 708 m64
  208. th gestalt therapy primer: rc 489 g4 r67
  209. subverting greed: hf 1359 s8665
  210. th cap'n amer complex: e 175.9 j48
  211. kything: th art of spiritual presence: bx 2350.2 s266
  212. 100 yrs of upstart unitarianism in th bibl belt: bx 9833.6 o384 h37 (sz 2)
  213. yr guide to a group experience: hm 134 s66
  214. th woman's bible: hq 1395 s72
  215. basic xtian ethics: bj 1241 r3
  216. narnia beckons (w/ pencil drawings): pr 6023 e926 z583 (sz 2)
  217. at jerusalem's gate: poems of eastr(woodcuts): bt 482 g75 (sz 2)
  218. th mandala: sacred circ in tib buddh: bq 5125 m3 b7313 (sz 2)
  219. i am a bullet: scenes frm an accel culture: bd 638 k78 (sz 2)
  220. th basic scientology picture book: bp 605 s2 h765 (size 2)
  221. buddhism & th mythology of evil: bq 4900 L56
  222. catechism of th catholic chrch: bx 1959.5 c384
  223. th catechism: 100 q's & a's: bx 1959.5 p37
  224. an essay on theo method: br 118 k38
  225. th confessions of St. Augustne: br 65 a6 e5
  226. a cosmic bk on th mechanisms of creation: bf 1999 b3975
  227. *eight theories of religion: bL 41 p36
  228. three msngrs for 1 god: bL 410 a7613
  229. coming t peace w/ sci: bridging tween faith n biol: bs 651 f35
  230. what does th bible really say about hell?: bs 680 h43 k57
  231. th man who was a woman & othr queer tales frm hindu lore: bL 1215 s49 m36
  232. sathya sai speaks - vol1,4(cover pics): bL 1228 s28 a25
  233. authentic fakes: relig & amer pop culture: bL 65 c8 c465
  234. a concise dictionary of cults & religions: bL 31 w38
  235. experimenting w/ truth: th fusion of relig w/ tech, for humanity's survival: bL 240.2 r69
  236. survivinq terror (p.109-wiesel): bL 65 t475 s87
  237. material objects: bf 1999 b397
  238. th sacred prostitute: hq 61 q35
  239. cross-cultural educ (planetary perspective): lc 1099 w54
  240. queer theory - an intro hq 76.25 j34
  241. who's afraid of th freemasons? hs 403 p53
  242. gender: hq 1075 m384
  243. ecologicl femnism: hq 1233 e28
  244. cicero's lettrs to friends: pa 6156 c6 e3
  245. a hist of ancient persia: ds 275 r6
  246. th religion of thomas jefferson: e 322 f66
  247. thesis - hile(1994, psr): e 332.2 h54
  248. angelwalk: ps 3555 L85 a54
  249. th invisible man: ps 3555 L625 i5
  250. th i chinq or book of changes: pL 2478 d87
  251. religions of star trek: pn 1995.9 s694 k72
  252. a theory of justice: jc 578 r38
  253. in u don't go, dont hinder me: mL 3187 r3187
  254. th quiet rebels: th story of quakers in amer: bx 7635 b13
  255. th vision of th lord's recovery: bx 7990 L63 L448
  256. th best spiritual writing (1999-2004): ps 509 s62 b47
  257. th laying on of hands in th parish healing ministry: bx 5141 g76 v.104
  258. rock, bach, & superschlock: mL 3865 m97
  259. power in buildings: na 712 f47
  260. shaw & xtianity: pr 5368 r4 a2
  261. sacred choices (th right to contraception in 10 relig): hq 767.2 m34
  262. making abortion rare: hq 767.5 u5 r385
  263. sex & heaven: bx 1795 s48 p67
  264. theodore parker series: bx 9815 p3 1907 v.1-14
  265. william ellery channing series: bx 9815 c4 1903 v.1-6
  266. plan b: further thoughts on faith (ps 3562 a4645 z467)
  267. th man born to b king (pr 6037 a95 m3)
  268. aisha's moonlit walk (pz 7 s779 a1)
  269. systematic theo: bx 1751.2 s888
  270. peace or atomic war (schweitzer): jx 1974.7 s3
  271. god & th gangs: hv 6437 b43
  272. uses of marijuana: hv 5822 m3 s58
  273. turned on by god: hv 5822 m7 c65
  274. pipe, bible, & peyote among th oglala lakota: e 99 o3 s83
  275. equations of eternity: qc 171.2 d36
  276. marx's concept of man: hx 39.5 f7
  277. wht editors look fr: pn 161 a32
  278. th case for christ: bt 203 s77
  279. th radical kingdom: bt 738.3 r8
  280. 90,000 hrs: managing th world of work: bt 738.5 g728
  281. th last days r here again: bt 876 k95
  282. th story of th devil: bt 980 g75
  283. th gendered new wrld order: hq 1236 g4625
  284. pedagogy of th oppressed: Lb 880 f73 p4313
  285. critical terms fr art history: n 34 c75
  286. heavn below: br 1644.5 u6 w33
  287. th ordering of time (ce 6 b6713)
  288. th built environmnt: na 2543 s6 b77
  289. imagine all th ppl: a conv w/ th dalai lama: $, polit, life
  290. godspeech: putting divine disclosures into human words: bt 180 w67 j65
  291. th improbability of god: bL 2775.3 i47
  292. love, wages, slavery: th lit of servitude in th u.s.: hd 6072.2 u5
  293. topologies of th flesh: b 829.5 r67
  294. living w/ paradox(p 131-135): bv 652.1 m35
  295. th complete idiot's guide to public spking: pn 4121 r73
  296. globalisation fr th common good: hf 1418.5 m64
  297. pacific rituals (kava): gn 663 p32
  298. opening a mountain: koans of th zen masters: bq 9289.5 h438
  299. beyond thinking: a guide to zen medit / zen mstr dogen: bq 9449 d652
  300. a concise overview of swedenborg's theo: bx 8721.3 k579
  301. 10 habits for effctv ministry: a guide fr life-giving pastors: bv 660.2 e73
  302. getting things done: concepts & skills fr leaders: bv 652.1 s34
  303. th intrusive word: prchng to th unbap: bv 4211 w 524
  304. th later roman empire: dg 311 j6 v.1-2

that should keep me busy for a little while. or several lifetimes, at the speed i read. if you read any of these, please feel free to send me a synopsis with the main take-home points.


mood: mad, because i'm tired but can't sleep.

pax hominibus,
joel

Labels:


Thursday, July 13, 2006

 

Presidential Approval Ratings? And... I almost got intentionally hit!

I just found this interesting.

A couple weeks after Bill Clinton got served his impeachment papers, his approval rating was 73%.

GWB has yet to really make it over 50% since all the patriotic sympathetic hullaballoo as a result of 9/11 and the two invasions and capture of Saddam. The only way, it seems, for him to get his approval ratings to go up is to attack or be attacked.

Sure would be nice if we had a country that would raise approval ratings when we have health-care or a safety net that provides for the basic well-being of its citizens. Nope, not yet, at least.


Regarding almost getting hit: I went to the Grocery Outlet today on my way home from work and stocked my bike basket and backpack pretty full up with groceries and then was biking up 29th St between Broadway and Harrison on my way home.

As I began to go downhill toward Harrison, a car much like this Olds Toronado, except jet black and tricked out with spinners on the hubs, driven by a man with dreadlocks was coming up the street toward me. Except... instead of being on the right side of the road, the driver decided to swerve his car all the way into the oncoming lane (my lane) and proceeded to accelerate all the way up the street at me, not 3 feet from the parked cars. I slammed on my brakes and pulled behind a parked car. The thought of playing chicken never even occurred to me. I wonder what was up with that guy. Was he high? Was he listening to music that made him angry? Was he mean, or just an asshole? I don't know, and probably never will. I shrugged it off, but thought I'd share some of the beauty that is Oakland.


music: Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

colors: brown and peach

mood: sleepy

chant/prayer/mantra:
Well, well, well.

pax hominibus,
joel

Monday, July 10, 2006

 

pic of dog trick

thoughts: my life is overflowing with books. s decided it was time to go out and get a real industrial strength/size bookshelf. we got one. i set it up in the living room and then maggie and i went through a few tricks. here's one.
.
.


pax hominibus,
joel

 

long time, no post

 

thoughts: sorry so slow to repost again. we went on vacation a couple weeks ago, at the end of which i was puking, and had one of those headaches that was so throbbing i will now and forever have true empathy for every person who gets headaches more than just occasionally. i've been in kind of a not-overly-communicative mood ever since...

i just signed up a new domain, plus corresponding parked domains, with the folks at e-z web hosting, and after punching the "order/sendmoney" button, the purchase page's logic came back at me saying i didn't fill in all of the blanks like a good boy. the thing which was missing was "company name." how odd that they'd REQUIRE that? well, actually, how odd that i'm sending virtual money to a computer that is working for a company for whom the employees, owners and investors may never know my name as a customer. and how especially odd that the product i'm buying is the ability to have people's browsers get routed to information of my choosing whenever they go to christcollective.org (sorry about the name, e. long time no phone, so i'm expecting a call and a chewing out when you read this). s doesn't dig the name that much either, and i can see where she's coming from. for an atheist its astounding how much religion she can handle). don't even bother going to the site right now, it's just lame and under construction until i can get everything running, and some people of the right mind frame to help design it better than five or six manually-written boring pages, that likely won't even try to use .css. certainly not php, asp, or cgi. just boring htm. i guess i'll put a mailto link on there so people can contact me to buy the stickers, but that's it. i still need about $600 to get the first batch of stickers printed (hint, hint, wink, wink)

oh, speaking of, the other evening s and i went down to see strangers with candy in san fran (it was fair/good imo). on the way back while waiting for the bart in the station, somebody had changed a "walk bicycles" sign so that the wheels looked like two eyes with eyelashes, one of them winking. and there was some more graffiti lower down on the sign that looked either like a referee's whistle or a pipe on its side, with the alphanumeric character 6 above it.

related to that, did anybody think about the fact that some folks were spooked out about june 6, 2006 because its date is 666, and yet next july 7th, less than a year away from today, it'll be 777. that's what's nice is that 7 always follows 6.

oh, so the company name... sorry i got sidetracked by my tangent-making mind. i filled in "prismatic tambourine factory, department of transverse mobioid hyperprismatology." sounds kind of like a crock name, and as if i were some type of nut, but then why were they requiring a company name again in the first place? good lord i hope i get a piece of junk mail with that on it. but i hope that all of the other junk mail stops. don't we all? even the people that send it probably would rather not get it themselves...

we saw the movie "network" last week, and "an inconvenient truth" last night. that's a heavy movie, but EVERYONE must see it and know it. the man may not have gotten to be the leader of the world's most economically and militarily powerful country, but he does get to make a movie that is the inception of a movement that will be influencing/steering public policy for decades to come.

music: a melody of my own.

colors: light robin's-egg blue and white

mood: scattered, sad, a bit nutted-out.

chant/prayer/mantra:
mind, be still.
breath, be steady.
eyes, see true.
heart, be true.

Link of the day: info about my head tattoo here, and here. the "topologies of the flesh book," i checked out from the library and haven't had time to read about it, but i think its likely similar to the concept of bi-thetical (or multi-thetical) identity/unity that i've been trying to push. even if there appear to be two sides to something, since they're on a mobius strip, one may discover that those two sides flow/blend together and are actually one in the same.

miss you.


pax hominibus,
joel

Saturday, July 1, 2006

 

Independence From God Drum


 
JD here. I've hijacked Joel's blog (though he did give me permission to do so long ago) because I figured this photo fits better here than it does in my blog. Also, I think it's a nice image for Independence Day weekend. The drummer is a guy who sets up his drumset and plays the most painfully dull straight-ahead rock beats all by his lonesome down in Waikiki. He looks sort of like the drummer from Journey, circa the video for the song Separate Ways (You know, the one where the woman with the bad 80s hairdo walks around a deserted shipyard for no apparent reason whatsoever, while the band lip syncs with too much enthusiasm nearby?).

music: Bill Laswell - City of Light

colors: deep black and silky blue-green

mood: disconnected

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